Politics is what holds this country back. Who is wondering why Ethiopia is developing at 12%? Why would one disapprove a 37 year old study for political expediency?

ironic example. look at where that has led them to so far.

@ Museveni, Iwill try to answer your questions from what I know and as best as I possibly could....



I agree there is no such a thing as flooding in Murang'a because the valleys through which the rivers flow are deep enouph to accommodate all the flood water. This flood water at the upper regions is the one that causes the flooding in the lower region. I will tell you something, that in as far as river Tana is concerned once it leaves Mwingi, it enters a region with a consistently flat topography all the way to Tana delta. Due to the slow speed of water in this region, the river is very shallow. I did some reconnaissance sometime back along Garissa to nannighi (Bura), Hola, Garsen and Ngao and you know what, some areas are just about 1 metre deep. Along river Tana there is no other factor that causes flooding except heavy rainfall at the catchment and thus excess water (way above the daily recorded average flow rate).



At the time (30 years ago) when the feasibility study was done for this project and even Now Nairobi has no other viable alternative of water source. Not boreholes, no place to construct a dam (While in upper Kiambu and Murang'a there is plenty of space). If Nairobi County were to look for a place to construct a dam, may be Spring Valley and some parts of lower Kabete. If the dam was to plug in the water supply deficit which now stands at 300 million litres per day, then for an average of 50m deep dam with a half an year unreplenished capacity, it would have to hold 50 billion litres covering an area of about 1000acres!!

The issue of county resource ownership is what is complicating the water and energy issues and not just in Nairobi. This is an issue that cropped up after inaugulation of the the bloody new constitution.

So my take is that the project is viable. The only issue that needed to be ironed out is how much Nairobi is going to pay Murang'a county for this resource and where the bulk water meter will be installed. The rest about landslides and desertification are lies meant for political expediencies, nothing else.



In our case, the water is not being tapped at the source which is the Aberdares. The project here is concerned about tapping of the excess water above the average daily flow.
If the water is at or below the average flow rate, the weir gates will remain closed and no water shall enter the turnnels. I like this very automation because it ensures that the same amount of water is still available in the river along its course just as if the project never exixted.

As for uncontrolled extraction, this would be upon the national government with the help of the county government and the community to monitor and ensure that there is no unlicensed extractions and diversions.



Let me enlighten you yet again...
Feasibility study done in 1982/1983 (34 years ago, I am quite sure most of the members in wazua had not been born)...A fact!

Construction started in 1988 (28 years ago, how old were you then?). The project composed of 14 components:

the main one being of the Ndakaini Dam. This was done and completed in 1996....A fact!

the construction of pipelines to Nge'thu water treatment plant and from treatment works to the Gigiri reservoir tank, and other three reservoirs in Kiambu, Kasarani and Wilson
Airport which was done and completed...A fact!

construction of the water intakes..the main one at ndakaini dam was done and completed....A fact!

building of access roads...the ones that were associated with the dam, the rising mains to the treatments works and other pipelines to the storage tanks were done and completed....A fact

collector tunnels are the last components that should be marking the completion of the water supply project in totality as conceived and designed 34 years ago....A fact!

All in all there is nothing new in this project and all the possible technical and social negativities that were likely to arise had been taken care of.

There is nothing wrong with the project. It is the political jostling within and without Murang'a county that is messing everything up. Those are Kenyan politics. If there was anything wrong with the project, it would never have taken off and even the world bank would never have funded it. Upto now about 80% of the project has been completed. Why have we waited until this long (80% completion level) to start punching holes at it? Answer...politicising everything even a cattle deep.

@ Museveni, Iwill try to answer your questions from what I know and as best as I possibly could....



I agree there is no such a thing as flooding in Murang'a because the valleys through which the rivers flow are deep enouph to accommodate all the flood water. This flood water at the upper regions is the one that causes the flooding in the lower region. I will tell you something, that in as far as river Tana is concerned once it leaves Mwingi, it enters a region with a consistently flat topography all the way to Tana delta. Due to the slow speed of water in this region, the river is very shallow. I did some reconnaissance sometime back along Garissa to nannighi (Bura), Hola, Garsen and Ngao and you know what, some areas are just about 1 metre deep. Along river Tana there is no other factor that causes flooding except heavy rainfall at the catchment and thus excess water (way above the daily recorded average flow rate).



At the time (30 years ago) when the feasibility study was done for this project and even Now Nairobi has no other viable alternative of water source. Not boreholes, no place to construct a dam (While in upper Kiambu and Murang'a there is plenty of space). If Nairobi County were to look for a place to construct a dam, may be Spring Valley and some parts of lower Kabete. If the dam was to plug in the water supply deficit which now stands at 300 million litres per day, then for an average of 50m deep dam with a half an year unreplenished capacity, it would have to hold 50 billion litres covering an area of about 1000acres!!

The issue of county resource ownership is what is complicating the water and energy issues and not just in Nairobi. This is an issue that cropped up after inaugulation of the the bloody new constitution.

So my take is that the project is viable. The only issue that needed to be ironed out is how much Nairobi is going to pay Murang'a county for this resource and where the bulk water meter will be installed. The rest about landslides and desertification are lies meant for political expediencies, nothing else.



In our case, the water is not being tapped at the source which is the Aberdares. The project here is concerned about tapping of the excess water above the average daily flow.
If the water is at or below the average flow rate, the weir gates will remain closed and no water shall enter the turnnels. I like this very automation because it ensures that the same amount of water is still available in the river along its course just as if the project never exixted.

As for uncontrolled extraction, this would be upon the national government with the help of the county government and the community to monitor and ensure that there is no unlicensed extractions and diversions.



Let me enlighten you yet again...
Feasibility study done in 1982/1983 (34 years ago, I am quite sure most of the members in wazua had not been born)...A fact!

Construction started in 1988 (28 years ago, how old were you then?). The project composed of 14 components:

the main one being of the Ndakaini Dam. This was done and completed in 1996....A fact!

the construction of pipelines to Nge'thu water treatment plant and from treatment works to the Gigiri reservoir tank, and other three reservoirs in Kiambu, Kasarani and Wilson
Airport which was done and completed...A fact!

construction of the water intakes..the main one at ndakaini dam was done and completed....A fact!

building of access roads...the ones that were associated with the dam, the rising mains to the treatments works and other pipelines to the storage tanks were done and completed....A fact

collector tunnels are the last components that should be marking the completion of the water supply project in totality as conceived and designed 34 years ago....A fact!

All in all there is nothing new in this project and all the possible technical and social negativities that were likely to arise had been taken care of.

There is nothing wrong with the project. It is the political jostling within and without Murang'a county that is messing everything up. Those are Kenyan politics. If there was anything wrong with the project, it would never have taken off and even the world bank would never have funded it. Upto now about 80% of the project has been completed. Why have we waited until this long (80% completion level) to start punching holes at it? Answer...politicising everything even a cattle deep.

Good background info @Kaigangio

However you realise after 34 years alot has changed. Key being the population in the catchment area and downstream. Thus the effects of implementing the project are much different from when it was conceived. With all this in mind, realistically a new eia report should have been done and published for all. Awareness is important.

As correctly pointed out, resource sharing is going to be a pricky issues between the counties as pressure to collect revenue grows. It would have been great to see the leadership of Nairobi and Muranga come together and set a good precedence by addressing all the issues being raised.

Is the project a good idea? Absolutely.

However the world Bank is not a standard measure of how good a project is. Sometimes it is a matter of showing good faith in a struggling country that is making good progress. Not that the projects they fund are 100% perfect.

As for relegating uncontrolled extraction to the govt, we all know how that goes.

Currently we (the govt) are fighting corruption aggressively 😀 meanwhile billions are flowing into private 'pockets' and 'handbags' from public funds.

When there is perceived shortage of water in say Nrb or Muranga county wants some extra funds all it takes is a corrupt fellow to keep the gates open and let as much water to flow / divert into the tunnels with little regard to the impact.

The underlying issues are much bigger than the politicians trying to upstage each other with sideshows. It would have been great to see engineers, lawyers, and other professionals leading the debate. Sadly however the politicians have taken their stands and now it is a show of might.

The project is not perfect. Much can be improved and unfortunately this will Never come from politicians.

Do you believe the population downstream is as had been expected 34 years ago ?

As @masukuma has pointed out, true progress can only be achieved when the people Kenyans not Muranga residents only or Nairobi residents 'own' and embrace the project and idea. Trying to bully everyone into submission or acceptance is never a good idea. Look at Ethiopia now.

The Kibaki administration was way much better in starting to move the wheels towards a vibrant economy. With good checks on public expenditure as well as welcoming different points of view. The current administration seems to have found the blueprints dusted by the previous administration and decided to kick everything into motion with little consideration to economic social and environmental implications.

There is the little matter of the sovereign debt. The Chinese seem to be so generous lately? Doing all the works from simple drainages, roads, railways, soon airports and even funding political parties? What gives ?

It will be interesting 10 - 20 years from now when the population in the country has ballooned and all the different regions are stretched in terms of resources. This discussion maybe will serve as a good reference on fair resource sharing. Just maybe and hopefully.